The Brooklyn Nets dominated headlines Monday with their abrupt firing of Jacque Vaughn. While Vaughn’s status was in question amid an 8-23 stretch that dropped the Nets to 11th in the Eastern Conference, the timing of the change came as a surprise, so much so that Cam Thomas said he thought it was a prank.
“I found out when Sean [Marks] told me. I didn’t even know. I saw it on the internet, but I thought it was like a prank or something,” Thomas said Wednesday. “But Sean called and informed me. It’s unfortunate, but it’s what comes with it. You don’t want to see nobody lose their job at the end of the day. It’s tough, but it’s what comes with it.”
“At the end of the day, you’ve got to get wins, got to make the playoffs. So the front office made the decision they felt was best for the team, as an organization. We’ve just got to move forward and try to stack wins.”
Will Cam Thomas’ role change under interim head coach Kevin Ollie?
Much was made of Cam Thomas’ inconsistent role under Vaughn over the last year. With Kevin Durant injured and Kyrie Irving sitting after requesting a trade at last year’s deadline, the 22-year-old became the youngest player in NBA history to score 40-plus points in three straight games. Yet, despite a glaring scoring void after trading Durant and Irving, he still could not crack Brooklyn’s rotation in the second half of the season.
Thomas stepped into an expanded role this year and has taken a leap, averaging 21.2 points per game, the second-most on the Nets and the third-most in the NBA among players 22 or younger, trailing only Anthony Edwards and Paolo Banchero.
Despite bouncing between the bench and starting lineup, the 2021 first-round pick received the keys to the offense in recent months. Thomas has posted a 29.6 percent usage ratio, ranking first on the Nets and 13th in the NBA, ahead of players such as LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Jalen Brunson and Damian Lillard.
While his defense (2.8 points added per 100 possessions, worst on the Nets, per CleaningTheGlass) and passing (0.48 assist-to-usage ratio, dead last among NBA combo guards) still leave much to be desired, Thomas has shown some willingness to focus on both areas. Newly hired interim head coach Kevin Ollie would like to see that emphasis continue, in addition to the young guard’s high-level scoring.
“Cam has done an absolutely awesome job with, of course, scoring the basketball. We know [he can do] that,” Ollie said. “But just the little things that we have asked him to do also. Getting out of himself… Hitting all the time on rebounds and being back and playing better defense and understanding that you can be a masterpiece on offense and also be a masterpiece on defense.
“Giving him all those different tools and seeing him grow in those areas has been great. We’re gonna push him even more and give him things that he has to do to continue to play at this level and continue to be the best player he can possibly be. And those things are the energy things, those are the effort things that we know he can do even on a better scale.”
Thomas spent one college season at LSU, where he led the nation’s freshmen in scoring at 23.0 points per game. However, he said he once wanted to play at UConn under Ollie after seeing Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright’s success on their way to a national championship in 2014.
“When I was growing up, he was at UConn with all the great guards and stuff,” Thomas shared. “So just to be able to play under him is kinda cool in a way because, at some point, I wanted to go to UConn because they were producing great guards. So it’s pretty cool. It’s a full circle moment.”
The rest of the season will hold high stakes for Thomas and Ollie as the Nets attempt to make a playoff push with 28 games remaining. Brooklyn is expected to launch a full coaching search this upcoming offseason, with Ollie expected to receive consideration.
While the Nets already exercised Thomas’ $4 million team option for next season, they could enter negotiations on an extension this summer. However, given the third-year guard’s inconsistent role early in his career and polarizing status around the league, it’s unclear what his market value could be.
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